Subcaliber attachment for firearms.



R. P. SAFFOLD.

SUBCALIBER ATTACHMENT FOR FIREARMS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 30, 1914. v Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. P. SAFFOLD. v SUBCALIBER ATTACHMENT, FOR FIREARMS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 30, I914.

Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- BAY'P. SAFFOLD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

' SUBCALIBER ATTACHMENT FOR FIREARMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application filed December 30, 1914. Serial No. 879,689.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAY P. SAFFOLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco; in the county of San Franclsco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Subcaliber Attachments for Firearms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. y

This invention relates to sub-caliber attachments for fire arms and has for itsobject to provide a means for converting a fire arm capable of using onefkind of ammunition into a fire arm capable of using another kind of ammunition in a manner more eiiicient and less expensive than has been heretofore proposed. 1

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly .pointed out in the claims. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view of a fire arm provided with one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the sub-caliber casing, or cartridge shell holder shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a modified form of sub-caliber casings; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the v casing shown in Fig. 4; Fig.5 is a sectional view of another modified form of my invention; Fig. 5 is an end view of the parts shown in Fig. 5 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a still further modified form of the invention. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of another modified form of sub-caliber casings; Fig. v'2' is a rear end elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 6; Flg. 8 is a detail sectional view of a still further modified form of sub-caliber casings; Fig. 9 is a rear end elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing still another modified form of my invention;.and Fig. 11 is a rear end. elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 10.

1 represents any suitable barrel-of a fire arm, ,2 a sub-caliber barrel secured in the barrel 1 by any suitable means,and 3 a sub- I caliber cartridge holding casing adapted to fit the breech opening or chamber of the barre] 1, all as will be readily understood. The casing 3 is provided with the usual body "portion, and with a rim 4 at its rear end adapted to fit a corresponding recess in the breech-end of the barrel 1.. It is also provided with a bore 5 adapted to receive the sub-caliber ammunition and to register with the bore 6 inthe sub-caliber barrel 2. Surrounding the bore 5 at its rear or breech end is the recess 7 adapted to receive the rim 8 of the sub-caliber cartridge 9.

The rim 4 and part of the casing 3, in Figs. 1, 2. and 3, is cut away'at 10 to form the removable rim or extractor member 11,

adapted to slide to and from the body portion 3by means of the sliding pins or rods 5-3 rigid with said extractor 11 and entering said body portion all as will be clear from the drawings.

The lower portion 13 of. the recess 7 that 'is cut away and pertains to the extractor 11, takes behind the rim 8 of the cartridge 9, andtherefore when the casing extractor 11 is drawn to the rear, it pulls the cartridge shell with it. The usual extractor 14 with which the gun is provided takes behind the segment of the rim 4 pertaining to the members 11, as at 1 5, so that, the entire rim 4 being of the same dimensions as the rims of the standard cartridges normally used in the fire arm, the said gun extractor will retract the casing extractor 11 and with it the sub-caliber shell precisely as it retracts the full size standard shells.

17 represents any suitable firing pin, and 18 any suitable hammer.

In that form ofmy inventionillustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the construction is or may be substantially the same as in Figs. 1 to 3, except the casing extractor'21 extends a considerable length along the body portion 3,

In the foregoing figures, as well as in Figs. 7 to 11, the body portion 3 is sufficiently thick to accommodate a sliding means such as the rods 12 and 29 or the members 22, but in the case of pistols or in the case of rifles, the bores of the standard barrels may be too small to accommodate casings sufficiently thick to admit of the use of such a form of sliding means.

In order to provide for the use of thinner casings 3, I have in the modified forms shown in Figs. 5, 5 and 5", a casing 50, preferably provided with a shoulder 51 to form the reduced portion 52, over which slides the sleeve 53 of the extractor member 54, having the slot 55 in which is located the guide pin 56 flush with the outer surface of the said sleeve 53. The said extractor member 54 is provided with the groove 7 into which fits the rim 8 of the cartridge 9 and with the extractor engaging shoulder 15, as disclosed in connection with Figs. 1 to 3, so that when this said modified form of the invention is used in shot guns or other large caliber fire arms, it may be readily substituted for the other forms shown in the other figures of the drawings, while when used with smaller calibers, it may be made only slightly larger than the regular cartridges if I so desired, or of any other desired size.

In the modified form of the invention cut away at 58 to expose the rim 8 of the cartridge. This form of extractor 54, is found useful in connection with pistols not having extractors such as 14, and in other fire arms when it is convenient to make use of special tools to engage the cartrldge rim 8.

In the still further modified form shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the casing 27 may becut at or near its middle, and longitudinally of its length, to form the extractor member 28, and said member may be slidingly fitted to said casing by any suitable means, as by the sliding pins or rods 29 shown in dotted lines. Said extractor 28 is provided with the upturned ring segment 30 fitting behind the rim 31 of the cartridge shell 32, and said sub-caliber casing 27 is bored out to receive the casing breech plug 34, the forward end of which fits snugly against the rear face of the cartridge as shown. The said breech plug is provided with a rim 35, at its rear fitting a corresponding recess 36 in the casing 27, and also fitting the recess segment 37 in the exterior member 28. 38 represents a firing pin carried by the plug 34 adapted to be struck by the firing pin 17. 15 represents the shoulder behind which the gun extractor 14 may take. In this form of my invention, the plug 34 is withdrawn with the casing extractor 28, and the latter withdraws the cartridge shell 32 by means of its ring segextractor member 41 and to engage into the groove 43 of the so called rimless cartridge cases 44. This form of sub-caliber casings are also preferably provided with the usual grooves, such as 7 in order that they may be used for the same kind of ammunition that is employed in connection with Figs. 1 to 5. When employing such ammunition provided with rims '8, the dog 42 is depressed, and is held by thecartridge casing 9 out of the way, as will be readily understood.

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, the construction is sub stantially the same .as that shown in Figs. 8 and 9, but I may omit the spring controlled extractor 42 and in place thereof may provide recesses such as 43 and 44' adapted to be engaged by special extractors carried by the gun. In such construction the recess 43 is the one which is employed to extract the shell of the cartridge, while the recess 44 mayv be employed when an extraordinary effort is required or the two recesses may be used simultaneously.

It will be seen from the above that my invention is capable of a wide variety of modifications, and that therefore those skilled in the'art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and accordingly I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure, except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 1. A sub-caliber casing provided with an exterior rim adapted to fit the breech of a gun barrel; a segmental extractor member provided with pins slidingly fitting said cas ing, having means to engage anextractor carried by the gun, and provided with a segmental recess adapted to receive the rim of terior; a plug provided with a firing pin and In testimony whereof I aflix' my signature, having a rinll adapted to fit said recess ;ba in presence of two Witnesses. cartridge she I extracting member carried y said segmental extractor member; and RAY SAFFOLD' 5 means to slidingly fit said segmental ex- Witnesses:

tractor member to said casing, substantially T. W. HUBBARD, as described. WILLIAM N. BEADLE. 

